He didn’t say where the new recovery sites would be located.
Eby didn’t say whether the government planned to remove user fees for all mental-health and substance-use treatment beds, currently in the range of $45 a day. Critics say having fees on some beds but not on others creates an unfair system.
B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon said by not eliminating user fees on publicly funded beds, the province will have a three-tiered system.
“We’ve got private beds for those that can afford to pay, then we’ve got the public beds charging up to $45 a day. And then apparently these new ones are going to be free. And how do you decide which ones you’re going to be lucky or unlucky enough to receive?” Falcon said.
Eby said the government is tracking waiting times so people can see the impact this funding will have on reducing the queue.
“Our goal obviously is to shrink those wait times, in some cases to zero, because when people have that moment of clarity with a serious mental-health or addiction issue, they want help. They need it right away,” he said.
The money will also be used to expand the Red Fish Healing Centre model of care across the province, though Eby didn’t say how much would be set aside for that.
The new Red Fish centre, located at the old site of the Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, is the only facility in B.C. in which people can be certified under the Mental Health Act. Clients are referred there by health authorities if their mental stability and drug use are so complex that they’re unable to maintain treatments, housing or relationships.
